When The Bullet Hits The Bone...

"Twilight Zone"

 

 Nobody said it better than the Golden Earring.  No, this is not the golden earring you fearfully imagine sprouting some day from your teenager’s nose or navel.  It’s the late ‘70s rock group and the song is “Twilight Zone”.  The question:  “Steppin’ out into the twilight zone.  Entering the Madhouse, fears that have grown...  

"What will become of the moon, and stars?  Where am I to go, now that I’ve gone too far?  You will come to know, when the bullet hits the bone!"

The Amanas Colonies, 26,000 acres of picturesque Iowa farmland, sheltering seven immaculate villages, are up Highway 151 about 100 miles east of Des Moines.  This is the Midwest, the Heartland. The place where the Deere and the antelope play.  A warp in time through which, you may - perhaps - be able to catch a glimpse of the future – the future of the credit union movement?  
The Amanas were settled in 1855 by the Society of True Inspirationists. The sect was formed in Germany; adopted a communal structure; and had unique, idealistic, and firmly held beliefs – sound vaguely familiar?  The communities were self-sufficient and prospered richly.  All things were shared.  Products, such as woolens, handmade furniture, meats and wines, were sold to the outside world.  A sterling reputation was built upon high standards of craftsmanship and a close attention to detail.  The “Amana” name – remember that refrigerator? – became synonymous with quality and value – sound vaguely familiar?

"Why don't you download this app..."

The Amanas appeared to be the true Utopia, the new Eden.  But trouble - eventually - always comes to Eden.  At first, the Inspirationists called it “The Reorganization”, then “The Change”, and finally, “The Great Change”, which started as a murmur, became a grumble, heightened to an argument, and ended in 1932 as a split. Eighty years of success forced onto the scaffold of change by a diminished intensity of beliefs, a cooling of religious fervor, a forgetfulness of original purpose and vision – sound vaguely familiar?

Their world, however, did not come to an end in 1932.  The Amana Colonies continued on.  The shared structure was abandoned; the religious and the secular were separated. Homes and personal property were divided; stock was issued in the businesses and agricultural interests. Today, the Amanas are on the National Registry of Historic Places and the Amana Heritage Society strives diligently to preserve the cultural heritage of the community and its descendants. Today, the Amanas are still many things, but mostly the Amanas are a novelty, an oddity, a quaint museum of past hopes and ideas - sound vaguely familiar? 
Why did this happen?  The guidebook says:  The Amanas were “…a goal visioned through faith, created and established by faith, named for a faith, and dedicated to a faith”.  And, “the first generation had an idea and lived for the idea.  The second generation perpetuated the idea for the sake of their fathers, but their hearts were not in it.  The third generation openly rebelled against the task of mere perpetuation of institutions founded by their grandfathers. It is always the same with people.” – sound vaguely familiar?
😎 Which credit union generation is this?  Are you still living for “the idea”,  is your heart still in it? 

 

 

 

 "You will come to know, when the bullet hits the bone.  Yes, we will come to know when the bullet hits the bone.”

Sacramento Bee Creates A Buzz Over California Mis-Mergers

  "To Bee or not to..." [link]   

 

Think that's more than a "Bee'-hive being stirred, folks!

✅ February 28, 2026: by Scott J. Rose - a member of SAFE Credit Union since 2002. He is a retired local physician.  [link]

 
"A credit union is a not-for-profit financial cooperative owned by its members. But who actually benefits when a financially sound credit union is handed over to another credit union? This is what the SAFE Credit Union Board of Directors voted in secret to do. 

On Nov. 18, 2025, SAFE leadership announced that SAFE Credit Union had signed a “definitive” agreement to “combine” with the Boeing Employees’ Credit Union (BECU), a Washington-based credit union with no previous ties to Sacramento. 

SAFE Credit Union is a treasured local institution, a member-owned, not-for-profit financial cooperative founded in 1940 as the Sacramento Air Force Employees Credit Union. SAFE was built by successive generations of Sacramento families, workers and small businesses, deposit by deposit and car loan by car loan. SAFE’s growth was not an accident: It was a product of loyalty and shared purpose. But that social compact is about to be violated. If this transaction is allowed to occur, SAFE Credit Union as we know it will simply disappear. 

The public interest group Propublica reported that in 2024, SAFE had total assets of $4.31 billion and total liabilities of $3.96 billion, nearly all from member deposits. The difference — nearly $350 million — is the owner equity, and it belongs to the members, who are the owners. But member-owners will receive nothing from this transaction. Deals like this merger into BECU are often shrouded in secrecy and sprung upon members with no advance notice and no transparency. 

BECU is headquartered near Seattle. This merger serves no apparent logical business or economic purpose. At the Annual Meeting of Members on April 16, 2025, there was nothing on the agenda to suggest that a merger was in the works. In a letter I received, Board Chair Rick Blumenfeld acknowledged that the Board of Directors had established a merger committee and had “engaged outside merger advisors” prior to April 16, 2025. This confirms to me that the merger negotiations were conducted in secrecy and deliberately concealed from the members — a clear violation of the board’s fiduciary responsibility to act in the best interests of its members. 

Since 1940, successive generations of SAFE leadership have expanded engagement with the Sacramento region. SAFE’s ties to the community ensure that the interests of our region always come first. SAFE has competitive advantages, including decades of member loyalty, local knowledge, organizational relationships and unfolding opportunities to meet members’ needs, such as housing, business loans and support for local institutions. In 2025, SAFE reported total local philanthropy of $437,000 — not including $23 million for the naming rights to the Sacramento Performing Arts Center in 2019, paid over the next 25 years. These commitments are in jeopardy if SAFE becomes a BECU branch operation. Philanthropy follows corporate headquarters. 

SAFE’s assets belong to its members. All member equity — $350 million — should belong to its members and not BECU. At the very least, all 245,000 SAFE members must be paid a minimum of $1,400 each for their ownership equity if this deal actually happens. Member-owners, local leaders and potentially impacted community organizations must speak out. What will be lost is not simply an accounting abstraction — it is real community wealth. California regulators are being asked to approve this deal. But once approved, it cannot be undone."

  Truth and "Roses" have thorns about them. – Henry David Thoreau  (Thank goodness!)